VISD cancels weekend softball tournament

Soggy fields as well as the strong possibility for rainfall this weekend led the City of Victoria and others to cancel this weekend's VISD softball tournament.

Play was scheduled to begin Thursday at 9 a.m., but organizers were concerned about the safety of the fields, as well as the travel concerns for the 10 participating teams outside Victoria.

The National Weather Service projected a 30 percent chance of rain for Thursday, 70 percent for Friday and 50 percent for Saturday's conclusion of the three-day tournament.

"We had to make a call," said East softball coach Jody Morgan. "We wanted to avoid kids getting hurt before district. .We don't want to make teams drive here and not return because of playing conditions. The best bet, between coaches and administrators, was to make the call to call it off."

Corpus Christi Carroll, Corpus Christi Moody, Beeville, Fort Bend Willow Ridge and Lockhart were among the schools slated to participate in the 13-team tournament along with the two VISD schools and St. Joseph.

A decision was made Wednesday afternoon as most teams were practicing. A decision about the fate of the UHV Softball Invitational, which is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, will be made sometime Thursday said athletic department spokesman Paul Ebner.

Victoria East and Victoria West both opened their seasons at Victoria Youth Sports Complex Tuesday night. At that time both playing surfaces and the infield were damp. Wednesday's rain surely couldn't have helped in preparation for the three-day tournament.

"They weren't holding up very well," said Victoria West softball coach Courtney Rigamonti. "They were very wet and soggy. There was no way we were going to be able to play on them with the amount of rain we had (Wednesday)."

Victoria West will play in the 16-team Caldwell ISD, taking the place of the Warrior junior varsity Thursday and Saturday. Victoria East will join six other teams scheduled to participate in the VISD tournament in a round robin tournament down in Corpus Christi.

Morgan praised assistants Lee Price and Melissa Buck for coordinating with officials down in Corpus Christi to find fields where the Titans, St. Joseph, Corpus Christi Moody, Corpus Christi Carroll, Yoakum and Cuero could play this weekend.

Rosa DeVries, the softball coach at Carroll, said the round robin games will be at three sites in Corpus Chrsiti: Moody High School, Carroll High School and the district athletic complex at Cabaniss Field.

"It was done on the fly," DeVries said. "These seven coaches decide we were going to get in as many games as we could and salvage as many as we could before the rain comes."